LehighNow Volume 03, Issue 11

              LEHIGHNOW
March 19, 2003
Volume 3, Issue 11
IN BRIEF
LEHIGH IN THE NEWS
Two make
"movers and
shapers" list
Kim Carrell-Smith, a
professor of practice in
Lehigh's history department, is listed as one of
the area's "movers and
shapers" in the current
issue of Lehigh Valley
Magazine. Also earning
the distinction is Weixan
Zhang, associate
professor of civil and
environmental engineering, who developed "a
revolutionary, more cost-
effective way of cleaning
contaminated soil and
groundwater," according
to the magazine.
For the sixth year in a
row, the magazine is
saluting the "invaluable
members of our community who are toiling, often
with little public
recognition, to make the
Lehigh Valley a better
place to live and work."
Carrell-Smith's honor
came as the result of her
role in the university's
innovative "Move-Out"
project, which collects
and re-sells items
discarded by Lehigh
students to raise funds
for South Side social
programs.
Carell-Smith is quick to
credit others for the
success of the program,
including Ellen Dunton,
a student in Lehigh's
Community Fellows
program.
Students
meet with
Iraq's U.N.
ambassador
A dozen students
from Lehigh University became the only
university group to
meet face-to-face
with Mohammed Al-
Douri, Iraqi ambassador to the United
Nations, during the
current crisis. At the
meeting held at Iraq's
Permanent Mission to the
United Nations in New York
City on March 3, the
students and Al-Douri
discussed Iraq's position on
the pending war and the
current political state of Iraq.
"I was very surprised
when the ambassador
agreed to my request for a
meeting," says Bill Hunter,
director of the office of
international students and
scholars and past NGO
representative to the United
Nations, who arranged the
meeting. "I believe the
session was permitted
because Iraq is trying to
'humanize' itself to the
American people, hoping to
garner additional support
for its cause."
The students, comprised
of journalism, international
relations, engineering,
science and business
majors, asked the ambassador very pointed questions
on a variety of subjects
ranging from Iraq's human
rights record to the need for
democracy in Iraq.
"This was no walk in the
park for Al-Douri," Hunter
Twelve students met with Mohammed Al-Douri, Iraqi ambassador to the
United Nations, and asked some tough questions about the current crisis.
says. "The students asked
some very tough questions.
They were respectful, but
also critical of his nation's
policies, its cat and mouse
game with the inspectors
and the United Nations."
Al-Douri's responses
yielded mixed reactions
from the students. "Overall,
Al-Douri's answers were
very diplomatic—no answer
was outside the party line,"
says Nur-e Rahman '04, a
journalism major. "I was
generally happy with the
way he received us, but at
times I felt as though he was
taking the opportunity to
spread his party's political
agenda."
"At one point, he said, 'To
you, (the Palestinian suicide
bombers) are terrorists, but
to us, they are heroes,' which
shocked me," says Dan
Ostermueller '06, a
cognitive science major. "But
it was really interesting to
hear the Iraqi perspective,
since all we hear are the
American views."
Hunter says the meeting
was a great example of how
the university views its
educational mission. "At
Lehigh, our approach is to
provide students with hands-
on opportunities to learn so
they are not forming conclusions based solely on what
they read in a text book or
hear from the media," Hunter
says.
Hunter says his views on
the situation have not
changed since meeting with
Al-Douri. "I believe the U.S.
has Saddam caged and there
is no harm in allowing for
additional inspections, which
I hope will in turn re-ally us
with Germany, France, and
Russia. The world is now
about who you partner with,
not who you bully."
Hunter and the students
certainly didn't partner with
Al-Douri, but they were
exposed to the views he
represents. "Part of my role
at Lehigh is to localize
international issues and
current events. This time, we
got as close as we could to
the source," Hunter says.